


The Space in Between

by probablylostrightnow



Series: Rory and Simon Trevelyan [2]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Agender Character, Other, Tome and Shield
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-02
Updated: 2016-01-02
Packaged: 2018-05-11 00:44:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5607247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/probablylostrightnow/pseuds/probablylostrightnow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rory Trevelyan and Ser Emris find a momentary escape from life in the Ostwick Circle. </p><p>An interlude that takes place between Chapters 6 and 7 of Tome and Shield.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Space in Between

Rory sat at a small table, nervously drumming their fingers on the tabletop. The room where they sat had no visible exits and was so narrow that the table had barely fit into it. Rory’s attention was fixed on the featureless stone wall at the far end of the room from them. They let out a sigh of relief as the wall quietly swung open and Ser Emris stepped through.

Emris had clearly put some care into his appearance for this meeting. He wore a clean, if worn, doublet and breeches, and his hair, so often untidy and mashed down by his helmet, was carefully brushed back. He looked, Rory thought, eminently kissable. He also looked a bit startled, blue eyes open wide.

“How did you ever manage to find this place?” Emris asked.

“There was an allusion to a ‘secret nook between the storerooms’ in an old journal,” Rory said. “So I went looking and found where the wall was not so solid.”

“Did the journal say anything about what it was used for? Secret rituals?” Emris asked eagerly.

Rory grinned. They wondered if any of Emris’s fellow templars suspected his romantic streak. “Nothing nearly so exciting. As far as I could tell, storage.”

“Do you think anyone else knows about it?” Emris asked.

Rory shrugged. “I can’t say. Certainly no one had been back here for a long time. There was a thick layer of dust on the floor when I found it.”

“So, why have you summoned me to your secret chamber?” Emris asked, wiggling his eyebrows. “I had a theory, but that table looks like it’ll be in the way.”

He always made Rory laugh. It was tempting to climb over the table and kiss him, but that would mean giving up on the plan. So Rory instead reached under the table and pulled out the basket. “I thought that we might have a picnic.”

Now Emris looked truly bewildered. “Up here? In this… closet?”

“I’d have suggested the gardens, but they’re far too public,” Rory said. “And there are some advantages to being a mage.” They moved their hands through the arcane gestures that would unlock their prepared spell. The light they had conjured above their heads brightened to become a likeness of the sun, and green grass replaced the flagstones beneath their feet.

Rory sucked in a deep breath. Conjuring the sun was easy enough, given their affinity for fire, but the illusion of grass was much harder. Keeping the mirage intact was going to be a constant drain on their energy, though not as difficult as creating it in the first place. But the look of wonder on Emris’s face made it worthwhile.

Emris sat down across from Rory and started going through the basket, pulling out roast chicken, bread, and a bottle of wine. “How did you get all of this?”

“I told the kitchen I’d be working in my lab through the midday meal and asked them to put up food for me,” Rory said. They had been terrified of that conversation, convinced that the cooks would somehow catch them in the lie, but it had gone off without a hitch. “I found the wine in the stores.”

Emris uncorked the bottle of wine, sniffed it, and wrinkled his nose. “How long had it been in the stores?”

“I don’t know. Is it not good?” Rory’s face fell. They had wanted this to be perfect.

“I think it’s vinegar,” Emris said ruefully. He smiled at Rory. “But the chicken looks tasty.”

Each took a chicken leg and tore off a portion of bread. They ate quietly for a few minutes. Rory reflected that eating alone with Emris made the food taste better, compared to eating the same meal in the refectory or while genuinely working in the lab.

“So, what gave you the idea for a picnic?” Emris asked.

Rory held up a hand while they swallowed a mouthful of chicken. “I thought it would be a good chance for us to talk. We talk less now that we spend more time, uh…”

“Kissing?”

“Yes. Which is very agreeable, don’t get me wrong…”

Emris smirked. “Glad to hear that…”

“But I feel like I don’t know what’s going on with you, with the templars…”

“You’d rather discuss the templars than kiss?” Emris asked. “I must need to work on my technique.”

Rory gave a nervous chuckle. “Well, I haven’t heard anything about your family lately, either.”

“I had a letter from Kristin last week,” Emris said. “She’s to be wed in the spring, and hopes I can be there. Hard to believe that my baby sister is of marrying age.” Emris smiled, his face relaxing as he talked about his family.

“Will you be able to go?”

“I don’t know,” Emris said, leaning back in his chair. “The Knight-Commander doesn’t grant leave often, but I hope this will be an exception. She says Tristan will come home for the wedding, and I’ve not seen him in years.”

“And your parents, how are they?”

“Da’s hip is troubling him, so they’ve had to bring in new hands for planting and harvest, but the crop’s coming in well. What about you?” Emris asked, sitting back up straight. “Have you heard from Simon?”

“He was here last week. He’s still thinking about fighting in the Grand Tourney, so he’s been spending a lot of time training. And, ah, he didn’t go into details with Ser Hannah watching us, but I gather most of the rest of his time is spent in taverns.” Rory smiled. Their brother’s life had become so different from their own that hearing about it was always fascinating.

Emris, by contrast, looked faintly disapproving. “Too much of that, and all his training will go for naught.”

“I’m sure Simon knows what he’s doing,” Rory said defensively.

“Doubtless,” Emris said. He rose from the table, brushing crumbs from his doublet. “I shouldn’t stay longer. It wouldn’t do for my fellow templars to start wondering where I’ve gotten to.”

“And I should put in an appearance in the labs,” Rory said with a sigh. “Shall we meet here again?”

“Of course,” Emris said. “For another picnic?”

“It doesn’t have to be,” Rory said, a bit shyly.

Emris wiggled his eyebrows again. “Oho! I’ll look forward to it all the more, then.” He leaned over the table to kiss Rory long and hard. Rory’s concentration wavered as they kissed Emris back, and the sun and grass both winked out, plunging the two of them into near-complete darkness.

Rory quickly conjured up enough light to see by, but Emris was already slipping out the hidden door.


End file.
